Find out how to find and use decoration and clothes codes for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as well as our selection of the best Animal Crossing codes to use.
Contents
- 1 What are Animal Crossing codes and QR codes?
- 2 How to use codes in Animal Crossing
- 3 How do you redeem QR codes in ACNH
- 4 Do you have to pay for QR codes in Animal Crossing?
- 5 How do I get New Horizons codes and Animal Crossing QR codes?
- 6 Best QR codes and New Horizons codes to download
Animal Crossing: New Horizons gives players so many customisable and creative options that the game’s been able to forge a vibrant community of contributors.
By using QR codes on New Horizons and Animal Crossing codes from previous games in the franchise, you can get your hands on new clothes, decorations, and ther items for your island.
On this page, we’re running through everything that you need to know on how to use Animal Crossing codes. At the foot of the page, we’re also listing links to pages of the best ACNH codes that we’ve compiled within set themes.
What are Animal Crossing codes and QR codes?
Across the Animal Crossing franchise of games, codes and QR codes have been used to share customised items, such as clothing, decorations, and other items that can be placed in the game.
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, each of your shared creations will be given a unique code, which you can share to allow others to download the item. Particularly for items made in the Nintendo 3DS game, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, QR codes are the go-to way to share creations.
How to use codes in Animal Crossing
To redeem codes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you’ll need to venture into the Able Sisters store, head to the back and activate the Custom Designs Portal.
If you haven’t unlocked the Able Sisters store yet, you’ll need to complete a few tasks around your island for the blue hedgehog Mabel to arrive.
To get Mabel to your island, you’ll need to have built the Museum by donating five creatures to Tom Nook and then 15 to Blathers, and Nook’s Cranny – which requires 30 Iron Nuggets and 30 of each wood type.
After completing these builds, you’ll meet Mabel in Nook’s Cranny, which will trigger her selling clothes in a little pop-up stall outside of Resident Services on some days. Next, you’ll need to buy enough from Mabel to convince her to set-up shop permanently.
In our playthrough, buying exactly 5,000 Bells-worth of goods wasn’t enough to convert Mabel’s stall into a shop. However, after buying one more item when she next arrived on the island, she decided to become a permanent store.
Time travelling in ACNH can greatly help to speed-up the process of getting the Able Sisters store, but once Mabel has decided to stay, all you’ll need to do is pick a plot for the shop and move forward a couple of days.
Accessing the kiosk will require an internet connection, but once you’re in, you’re free to browse the many custom designs of ACNH via the Creator ID search or, more commonly, the Design ID search.
If you’d prefer to dig into the ocean of designs yourself, though, you can use the Criteria Search to look for items named a particular term or come under a certain type of item.
It’s at this Custom Designs Portal that you can input all of the 14-digit codes that we’ve found and listed in articles linked further down the page.
How do you redeem QR codes in ACNH
To use a QR code in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you’ll need three devices: your Nintendo Switch, a smartphone with the Nintendo Online app installed, and another device’s screen to display the QR codes for scanning.
You’ll also need a Nintendo Online account to use the app and the QR scan feature for ACNH, as well as an internet connection throughout the process.
Next, follow these steps to use QR codes in Animal Crossing:
- Open the Nintendo Online app and select the Animal Crossing: New Horizons tile;
- In the NookLink, you’ll be referred to the Switch game to get the link working;
- Open ACNH, and on the title page, press – to bring up the Settings;
- Select the ‘NookLink.’ option from the subsequent menu and confirm;
- Enter the ACNH game on your Switch to arrive on your island;
- On your smartphone, enter the ACNH part of Nintendo Online app and select Designs;
- Next, select the option to Scan a QR code using your camera;
- You’ll need to grant access to your camera to use it, but you’ll then be able to scan QR codes;
- After scanning an Animal Crossing QR code, or four for a clothes QR code, you’ll be able to ‘Save’ the item to the app;
- Next, return to the Switch with ACNH loaded, press ZL to open your NookPhone, and select Custom Designs;
- From your designs page, press + to commence a download, confirm the download, and then save it to a slot on one of your Custom Designs pages.
As you can only save one Animal Crossing QR code in the Nintendo Online app, you’ll need to scan and download each item one at a time.
Do you have to pay for QR codes in Animal Crossing?
You don’t have to pay for Animal Crossing QR codes directly, but like any online or multiplayer aspect of Nintendo Switch games, you will need to purchase a Nintendo Online subscription to use QR codes in New Horizons.
The ACNH QR codes are free, but you’ll need to get a one-month (£3.49/€3.99/$3.99), three-month (£6.99/€7.99/$7.99), or 12-month (£17.99/€19.99/$19.99) Nintendo Online subscription to get the items into your game.
How do I get New Horizons codes and Animal Crossing QR codes?
We’ve compiled lists of the best Animal Crossing codes and QR codes in some popular themes at the bottom of this page. Still, if you’re after some more, you can turn to the Reddit Animal Crossing community page, r/ACQR, to see new designs, get some codes, and dig deep into the archives to find QR codes. Now that you know how to use codes in Animal Crossing, this will be a piece of cake for you.
On the other hand, you could search through the hundreds of pages of custom designs offered by players via the Custom Designs Portal: in New Horizons, this kiosk is at the back of the Able Sisters store.
Best QR codes and New Horizons codes to download
There are thousands of QR codes and New Horizons codes around. So, to make things a bit easier, we’ve scrubbed through several sources – including Nerd Attack!, r/ACQR, and the ACNH Custom Designs Portal – to find the best Animal Crossing codes and designs for our themed lists.
You can find the lists of all of our best QR codes and top New Horizons codes via the links below:
Animal Crossing: Best QR Codes and Codes for Legend of Zelda Clothes, Decorations, and Other Designs
Animal Crossing: Best QR Codes and Codes for Harry Potter Clothes, Decorations, and Other Designs
Animal Crossing: Best QR Codes and Codes for Pokémon Clothes, Decorations, and Other Designs
Animal Crossing: Best QR Codes and Codes for Marvel Clothes, Decorations, and Other Designs
